“Photo Meme “Why so serious?”” via MG Siegler on
Arrrgh! and ye be knowing already what today be me hearties!
Archive for September, 2008
Nick Pendrell discusses his unhealthy fascination with the contents of other people’s computers in his post Confessions of a Secret Screenshot Voyeur;
But it wasn’t this that interested me at all – it was the other information that the screengrabs showed me that fascinated me – the windows that they had open; the programs that they were using. It was like taking a little glimpse into their secret lives.
It’s the same when someone is presenting something to me on their laptops. I’m hardly paying attention at all to whatever it is that they are supposed to be showing me. Instead I am looking at all of the other stuff that they have on their computers.
…
Why not post your own screenshot somewhere and I will try and analyse you as well?
So I am taking up the challenge here’s my desktop in the middle of the day;
- 20 inch widescreen monitor connected to a laptop so I also use MSVDM to give me 4 virtual windows.
- My I’d rather be here wallpaper showing the Perhentian Islands from a now distant Malaysian holiday
- Beta software such as Google Chrome
- SOE Tools: Ghost, HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool, rawwritewin.exe
- Audio tools: Switch Sound File Converter, WavePad, Audacity
- CAD tools: Autodesk Design Review, DWG TrueView 2008
- VideoConf tools: Handbrake, ScreenStream, Skype, {just noticed I haven’t reinstalled Polycom PVX!}
- iTunes open listening to the TWiT podcast
- iPaq connected and synching to the Exchange server
What does that say?
September 19th (every year) is International Talk Like A Pirate Day
http://www.talklikeapirate.com/
“Yo ho, yo ho, the pirate life,
The flag o’skull and bones
A merry hour, a hempen rope
And ‘hey’ for Davy Jones!”
Get some Pirate goodness from the GeekDad Pirates category.
[1] Talk Like A Pirate Day – September 19
[2] What’s my Pirate name?
[3] International Talk Like A Pirate Day [Wiki]
Technorati Tags: Talk Like A Pirate Day
There was none …
… and then the Coffee Gods smiled
Mac OS X v10.5.5 / Security Update 2008-006
Published September 16, 2008 apple , patch , security Leave a CommentSecurity Update 2008-006
Security Update 2008-006 is recommended for all users and improves the security of Mac OS X. Previous security updates have been incorporated into this security update.
Available for:
* PPC [80MB]
* Server PPC [127MB]
* Server Intel [165MB]
* Intel [128MB]
Mac OS X 10.5.5 Update
The Mac OS X 10.5.5 Update is recommended for Mac OS X Leopard versions 10.5, 10.5.1, 10.5.2, 10.5.3 and 10.5.4. It includes general operating system improvements that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac.
Mac OS X v10.5.5 and Security Update 2008-006
- ATS: CVE-ID: CVE-2008-2305
- BIND:
- ClamAV: CVE-ID: CVE-2008-1100, CVE-2008-1387, CVE-2008-0314, CVE-2008-1833, CVE-2008-1835, CVE-2008-1836, CVE-2008-1837, CVE-2008-2713, CVE-2008-3215
- Directory Services : CVE-ID: CVE-2008-2329
- Directory Services : CVE-ID: CVE-2008-2330
- Finder : CVE-ID: CVE-2008-2331
- Finder : CVE-ID: CVE-2008-3613
- ImageIO : CVE-ID: CVE-2008-2327
- ImageIO : CVE-ID: CVE-2008-2332
- ImageIO : CVE-ID: CVE-2008-3608
- ImageIO : CVE-ID: CVE-2008-1382
- Kernel : CVE-ID: CVE-2008-3609
- libresolv : CVE-ID: CVE-2008-1447
- Login Window : CVE-ID: CVE-2008-3610
- Login Window : CVE-ID: CVE-2008-3611
- mDNSResponder : CVE-ID: CVE-2008-1447
- OpenSSH : CVE-ID: CVE-2008-1483, CVE-2008-1657
- QuickDraw Manager : CVE-ID: CVE-2008-3614
- Ruby : CVE-ID: CVE-2008-2376
- SearchKit : CVE-ID: CVE-2008-3616
- System Configuration : CVE-ID: CVE-2008-2312
- System Preferences : CVE-ID: CVE-2008-3617
- System Preferences : CVE-ID: CVE-2008-3618
- Time Machine : CVE-ID: CVE-2008-3619
- VideoConference : CVE-ID: CVE-2008-3621
- Wiki Server : CVE-ID: CVE-2008-3622
[1] About the security content of Mac OS X v10.5.5 and Security Update 2008-006 (2008-Sep-15) [Apple]
[2] About the Mac OS X 10.5.5 Update (2008-Sep-15) [Apple]
[3] Mac OS X 10.5.5 Combo Update (2008-Sep-15) [Apple]
Note to Dick Smith Electronics PR: $200 < reputation ?
Short on your DSE porn quota? You might want to bid on “the original Dick Smith scandal mobile phone”
The university student told The Cairns Post she was selling the phone to recoup the $199 cost to buy it because Dick Smith Electronics is yet to offer her a refund.
Dick Smith porno phone goes on eBay (2008-SEP-19) [The Australian]
Windows 7 Beta?
… Analysts are predicting that the new Windows 7 (the successor of Windows Vista) could be available in beta within eight weeks. …
Blog: New Windows in eight weeks (2008-Sep-17) [streem]
Microsoft will use its Professional Developer’s Conference in late October as the launch platform for the first public beta of Windows 7. Microsoft plans to release the first beta on October 27, the first day of the show, when Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie will be the keynote speaker.
Windows 7 Looking Like a June 2009 Delivery (2008-Sep-12) [InternetNews]
Gaming with kids: rule 17b
… So this morning, I thought of a way to help GeekDads and GeekMoms who encounter this with their own kids. It’s a variation on something my friends and I call Rule 17a. …
Gaming with kids: rule 17b (2008-SEP-12) [Wil Wheaton]
I think that there are time where we *all* need a rule 17b 
The Large Hadron Rap
Today at about 5:30pm (AEST) physicists turn on the multibillion-dollar Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest particle accelerator complex. According to Mayan mythology, the world was destroyed and re-created many times over by their gods – perhaps they were building Mayan LHCs?
You’d better read this today, because it’s possible the world will end tomorrow. Strictly speaking, the probability of doomsday isn’t any higher than it is on any normal Wednesday, but there’s been a fair bit of kerfuffle and hullabaloo over the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and whether it will create a black hole that will destroy the entire planet. There’s even been a rap written about it.
- GeekDad (2008-Sep-09) [Wired]
Just in case you need to check; Has the Large Hadron Collider destroyed the world yet? (check the source for the javascript *chuckle*)
It’s the end of the world as we know it.
It’s the end of the world as we know it.
It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.
- R.E.M.
Wanted: One God particle
As an aside, I wonder how long it will be until someone is offering a Higgs-Boson particle on eBay? Not too long it seems 
LINKS:
[1] The LHC Will Not Destroy the World Tomorrow, or Ever (2008-Sep-09) [Geek Dad:Wired]
[2] LHC: Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios (2008-Sep-09) [Wired]
[3] Big Bang Day [BBC Radio 4]
[4] Twitter / HadronWatch [Twitter]
[5] Webcast CERN [CERN]
[6] Schedule of the Hadron collider experiment (2008-Sep-10) [RTE.ie]
[7] I Survived The Hadron Collider [cafepress]
Quicktime 7.5.5 and iTunes 8.0
Published September 10, 2008 apple , patch , security Leave a CommentQuickTime 7.5.5
Released: 09 Sept 2008
QuickTime 7.5.5 includes changes that increase reliability, improve application compatibility and enhance security. This release is recommended for all QuickTime 7 users.
Fixes: CVE-2008-3615, CVE-2008-3635, CVE-2008-3624, CVE-2008-3625, CVE-2008-3614, CVE-2008-3626, CVE-2008-3627, CVE-2008-3628, CVE-2008-3629
About the security content of QuickTime 7.5.5 [Apple]
iTunes 8.0
Released: 09 Sept 2008
Fixes: CVE-2008-3634, CVE-2008-3636
About the security content of iTunes 8.0 [Apple]
Patch Tuesday Wednesday (SEP-2008)
Published September 10, 2008
Patch_Tuesday , microsoft , patch , security
2 Comments
What’s more exciting today, the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), or another round of Patch Tuesday? This month we have 4xCritical (none involving quarks) for our patching pleasure, all of which are detected via Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MS BSA 2.1). A restart will be required.
| Bulletin | KB number | Description | Severity | Impact | Software |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MS08-052 | 954593 | Vulnerabilities in GDI+ Could Allow Remote Code Execution | Remote Code Execution | Critical | Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer, .NET Framework, Office, SQL Server, Visual Studio. |
| MS08-053 | 954156 | Vulnerability in Windows Media Encoder 9 Could Allow Remote Code Execution | Remote Code Execution | Critical | Microsoft Windows |
| MS08-054 | 954154 | Vulnerability in Windows Media Player Could Allow Remote Code Execution | Remote Code Execution | Critical | Microsoft Windows |
| MS08-055 | 955047 | Vulnerability in Microsoft Office Could Allow Remote Code Execution | Remote Code Execution | Critical | Microsoft Office |
For this month:
This month Microsoft released 4 bulletins which repair a total of 10 vulnerabilities. None of these vulnerabilities have been seen in in-the-wild attacks.
… Out of the 4 patches this month, all of the vulnerabilities were related to file-format or client-side issues. Because of this, desktop administrators will likely spend the most time analyzing and patching their responsible network segments. … — eEye [5]
PATCH NOW:
MS08-052, MS08-053 MS08-054 & MS08-055
LINKS:
[1.] September 2008 Monthly Bulletin Release (2008-Sep-09) [MS]
[2.] September 2008 Black Tuesday Overview (2008-Sep-09) [SANS]
[3.] Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for September 2008 (2008-Sep-09) [MS]
[4.] Microsoft security updates for September 2008 (2008-Sep-09) [MS]
[5.] Microsoft Patch Disclosure – September 2008 (2008-Sep-09) [eEye]
If you consider yourself a geekdad, are you raising your kids in distinct blue and pink worlds, or does the game console equalize all, and your daughter it just as likely to frag you in Halo as your son? Do you play table-top RPGs with your children, and daddy’s little girl likes being a half-orc anti-Paladin with a vorpal blade? Is your son more of the Crafting type, and into making his own felted laptop cases?
- Geeks and Gender Stereotypes [GeekDad:Wired]
The Box
The Box is an ambitious and unique year-long project for BBC News to tell the story of international trade and globalisation by tracking a standard shipping container around the world.
It is a project which plans to deliver content for television, radio and online audiences – telling the individual stories behind what makes the global economy tick.
We have painted and branded a BBC container and bolted on a GPS transmitter so you can follow its progress all year round as it criss-crosses the globe. The Box will hopefully reach the US, Asia, the Middle East , Europe and Africa and when it does BBC correspondents will be there to report on who’s producing goods and who’s consuming them.
http://bbc.co.uk/thebox
Big Bang Week
On Wednesday, physicists turn on the multibillion-dollar Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest particle accelerator complex. BBC Radio 4 has a dedicated line up of programmes during Big Bang Week including the Big Bang Day: Afternoon Play – Torchwood
Or will we be be sucked into a giant black hole as German chemistry professor Otto Rössler of the University of Tübingen posits?
Torchwood: Lost Souls
“Somewhere out there in that chaos of darkness and light, of science and protons, of gods and stars and death… somewhere there’s an answer.”Martha Jones, ex-time traveller and now working as a doctor for a UN task force, has been called to CERN where they’re about to activate the Large Hadron Collider. Once activated, the Collider will fire beams of protons together recreating conditions a billionth of a second after the Big Bang – and potentially allowing the human race a greater insight into what the Universe is made of. But so much could go wrong – it could open a gateway to a parallel dimension, or create a black hole – and now voices from the past are calling out to people and scientists have started to disappear…
Where have the missing scientists gone? What is the secret of the glowing man? What is lurking in the underground tunnel? And do the dead ever really stay dead?
Lost Souls is a spin-off from the award-winning BBC Wales TV production Torchwood. It stars John Barrowman, Freema Agyeman, Eve Myles, Gareth David-Lloyd, Lucy Montgomery (of Titty Bang Bang) and Stephen Critchlow.
